Our Dordogne/Paris Itinerary finalized - thanks for all the help!
 

By finalized, I mean all the hotels are booked. I still have lots to do in terms of what we want to do each day, but that's the fun part. Here's how we ended up:

We fly into Toulouse in early June, pick up a rental car and drive to Sarlat.
We'll stay 6 nights at Les Cordeliers ( http://www.hotelsarlat.com/ ).

Then we'll spend 2 nights in Figeac at Hôtel des Bains ( http://www.hoteldesbains.fr ).

My husband prefers to drive to Paris (I prefer the train), so I thought we should find a nice place to stay part way there so we could have a relaxed drive.

So we'll stay one night in Bourges (which looked interesting enough for one night), at Oustal en Berry ( http://www.oustalenberry.fr ). Then onto Paris.

In Paris we're staying in the 10th, along Canal St. Martin, for 4 nights at Le Citizen Hotel ( http://lecitizenhotel.com/ ). That area looks very interesting to me, we had previously stayed in the 6th. Of course we'll ditch the car when we get to Paris.

So there you have it. Seems so simple, but took me quite a while to figure out, I spend a lot of time figuring out how long to stay where, and on accommodations. Everyone has been SO helpful on this board!

Alice

I don't get the driving to Paris bit (aren't you just going to dump it when you get there? You certainly don't want a car in Paris), but otherwise it looks like a lovely trip!

Enjoy!

>>My husband prefers to drive to Paris <<

How about letting him drive alone on that long (7 1/2 hrs) boring drive, and then navigate into Paris (hope it's on a Sunday - not a work day). Have him drop you off in Brive (it's right on the A20 to Bourges) to take the train. Four hrs later you'll be in Paris & enjoying 1 1/2 days there while he spends 2 days mostly sitting in a car.

We were underwhelmed with Bourges.

Stu Dudley

Well, I make most of the decisions on our trips - I argued for the train, but he wouldn't have it. Bourges seemed a convenient place to stop and the B&B looks lovely. I consider myself lucky that he has no opinion as to general itinerary and accommodations and is willing to leave that to me - so we're driving to Paris!

We'll only have 3+ hours driving each day, I'll find some nice places to stop, I think it will be fine. I'm pretty happy with the accommodations and have a list of things I want to do in each location. I'm not going to let the train/drive thing spoil my anticipation!

Alice

That Paris hotel looks lovely. I think you''ll enjoy the neighborhood. We once dropped off a car at Gare du Nord, and it was an adventure. Especially after driving around Provence and Burgundy. If you are a map reader vs. dependent on GPS, the scale of the maps you will have been using in the Dordogne etc, changes when you need to start looking at a Paris map. But you can handle it. We've also dropped off cars at Orly, and taken the bus into town from there. THAT was very easy.

Love the looks of your itinerary. Sarlat and Figeac are both delightful. Enjoy!

I'm really looking forward to the Paris hotel - and we were extravagent and got a suite. Things I did NOT do our first trip to Paris include Giverney, Montmartre, Père Lachaise... I think we will fill our time very quickly!

My husband wants to drop me and our bags off at the hotel and then go return the car himself. And I'm going to let him.

Alice

alice - we did the canal st martin boat cruise on our recent trip to Paris, and it is all fascinating. I'm sure you'll have a great time and enjoy exploring a new area.

if you have time, you might like the cruise which goes past some really interesting buildings - on our trip they made a big fuss of one of the passengers who was a local woman about to take over as the manager of the only workshop left in Paris where they repair chandeliers. all the employees turned out to wave as we sailed past - it was lovely and she looked really touched.

have a great trip, whatever you decide to do!

annhig, I read something about the Canal St Martin boat cruise, and with your recommendation, I'll put it on the list. That whole area looks really interesting. The hotel sent me 2 documents - one of area shops, and one of area restaurants, with pictures and links!

Alice

You could stop for a coffee or a dinner or even overnight at the prioré d'Orsan. It has an interesting re-creation of a medieval garden. Anything beyond a coffee will be a serious splurge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57624575935008

Depending on the itinerary, there are things to see between the Loire area and the Dordogne: Oradour-sur-Glane, the porcelain museum in Limoges, the church in Saint-Savin (about 30 km. east of Poitiers), the Romanesque cathedral (?) in Poitiers, the chateau de Meillant.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...76890499/show/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...ith/4844023895

Thanks, Michael, I will definitely check these out.

Alice

Second recommendation for Ch Meillant. It closes for lunch, so plan accordingly. It is a bit out of the way, as are many sites between the Dordogne & Paris - so an "all autoroute" straight drive from Souillac to Paris taking 7 1/2 hrs might turn into an 10-11 hr "road trip".

Stu Dudley

I'll have to sit down and take a look at what we can see along the way that isn't TOO much off route. Maybe there's a better place than Bourges to overnight.

Alice

In case you did not look it up, try this:

http://www.prieuredorsan.com/anglais...l-anglais.html